Winning at Losing

• By ELLYN COUVILLION
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jan 11, 2009 - Page: 1D - UPDATED: 12:05m

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One of Chad Soileau’s earliest accomplishments, after losing 262 pounds following gastric bypass surgery and a lifestyle change in 2006, was taking a plane trip without having to use the seat-belt extender.

"I asked the stewardess to take a picture of me," said Soileau, 37.

The stewardess obliged, thinking it was his first flight, he said.

She was close to the truth, in a way. It was an early step in a new journey for Soileau, who weighed 464 pounds before undergoing surgery and taking up exercise.

From such modest goals for his new body as riding a roller coaster and wearing a shirt tucked in, Soileau worked up to such goals as walking one mile, then running a mile, to running marathons and triathlons.

"I’m really goal–oriented. That’s what got me through this process," he said.

Soileau lost 100 pounds following his gastric bypass surgery in the spring of 2006, he said.

"The other 162 (pounds) were me and exercise," he said.

It took him awhile to get used to his new body, Soileau said.

"For the first year-and-a-half, I would forget and wouldn’t recognize myself in a mirror" in department stores, he said.

Now Soileau is working toward a goal of a lifetime: participating in the Ford Ironman World Championship that will be held in Hawaii on Oct. 10, 2009.

The event, a triathlon event of swimming, biking and running, has been called the "world’s most prestigious one-day endurance event," according to the Web site, http://ironman.com.

Soileau doesn’t expect that he’ll be one of the 150 elite athletes from the U.S., who will be selected by lottery for this year’s Ironman in Hawaii.